1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of devices for cleaning of glass surfaces and more particularly to a cleaning device having an inner component with multiple cleaning elements magnetically manipulated by an outer component and supported by a structure displaceable by the outer component to engage a secondary cleaning elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Glass surfaces in structures such as aquariums are often difficult to clean since at least one of the surfaces may not be easily accessible. The use of cleaning elements placed on an inner surface of a aquarium wall and magnetically retained against the surface and manipulated by magnetic attraction to an outer handle component are known particularly in the aquarium cleaning art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,104 entitled DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CLEANING AQUARIUM WINDOWS issued on Feb. 19, 2002 to Bakker.
Aquariums often require various types of cleaning elements to dislodge algae or other organic or inorganic buildup on the walls. The ability to employ multiple cleaning elements on a single inner component to avoid the requirement for removing and replacing an inner component with a first cleaning surface with an alternate inner component having a second type of cleaning surface simplifies the cleaning task and reduces the time necessary. An exemplary Multifunction Aquarium Cleaning Device is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/164,161 having common inventors with the present application.
It is therefore desirable to provide a magnetically manipulated cleaning device for aquariums and other glass surfaces which employs selectable secondary cleaning elements to enhance the cleaning of an inner glass surface without requiring the removal of the inner component for altering the cleaning element.